Instant Pot Chunky Pasta Sauce with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Herbs

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. hot turkey Italian sausage or pork Italian sausage
• 5 T olive oil, divided
• 3 cans petite diced tomatoes, drain 2 cans and keep the liquid in the other one
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 2 T minced garlic, or more
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried Greek Oregano
• 1 T ground fennel
• If you have some
• 2 T chopped fresh oregano
• Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• Freshly-grated Parmesan for serving, optional but recommended

Directions

1. Set the Instant Pot to SAUTE / HIGH HEAT and warm 3 T olive oil. Remove the turkey or pork Italian sausage from its casings, drop the meat into the pot, and brown it while breaking it into pieces with a turner. If you’re using turkey sausage, let the extra moisture cook off before moving on. As the sausage cooks, pour off the liquid from 2 cans of tomatoes.
2. Once the sausage has browned, move it over to one side of the pot. Pour in another 1 T olive oil, then add the minced garlic, dried basil, dried Greek oregano, and ground fennel. Cook the seasonings with the sausage for 2-3 minutes, then stir in 2 cans drained tomatoes, 1 can undrained tomatoes, and the beef broth. Secure the lid, choose HIGH PRESSURE, cook for 10 minutes, and then use QUICK RELEASE.
3. After the pressure has come down, decide whether the sauce needs to be thicker. If it does, switch back to SAUTE / HIGH HEAT and simmer until some liquid cooks away and the consistency looks right to you; this should take no more than about 5 minutes. Turn the setting to SAUTE / LOW HEAT, mix in the chopped herbs and the remaining 1 T olive oil, and let the sauce gently simmer about 5 minutes more.
4. Add salt and a bit of freshly ground black pepper until the flavor is where you want it. Spoon the sauce over pasta or zucchini noodles while hot, and pass freshly grated parmesan cheese at the table. Refrigerate the sauce for about a week, or freeze it for several months; warm it back up over low heat.